Quack to the Future!

Just days ago, hockey fans in Moline, Illinois were mourning the loss of hockey as the Abbotsford Heat unveiled its new logo and uniforms. But happiness now reigns as the league that once hatched the Quad City Mallards resurrects them — and with six new logos to boot.

Today the International Hockey League announced the approval of the expansion franchise. The team now has a bare-bones web site set up with the following splash page graphic — from which I borrowed tonight's headline.

It features six different logos, two of which are textless. I didn't think you could make a mallard look intimidating but somehow these guys actually managed. And while I'm impressed by the look of this club, I can't help but wonder how wise it is to exist in the first place.

An article in the Quad-City Times points out the frequency of attendance trouble the i wireless Center has faced for hockey in the last decade. (Also talks about the management's marketing strategy for getting fans back.) The arena has been home to the sport since 1995, but has also lost two different teams — the original Mallards shut down when the Calgary Flames moved the AHL's Ak-Sar-Ben Knights to town in 2007.

Now they're gone and I hate to pass judgment on the fans, but it just doesn't seem like there are enough of them in Moline to warrant a team. Maybe you just make the 90-minute trip down I-74 to see the Rivermen in Peoria.

Having said that, there's more to this story. See, the IHL used be called the United Hockey League — the home of the first Quad City Mallards club. So in a way, it's like they just took a two-year vacation while the AHL tested the waters of a market that it found couldn't quite support it. So maybe they're right where they're meant to be.

Thanks to J.D. for the tip on this story and for making the "Mallards are re-hatching" joke. And now that you've heard enough from me, what do you guys think of the menacing green-headed bird logos above?

Retro Revamp for Logo Champ

Why repair what's not broken? Tradition is a common response in this sport. The only thing that bothers me about it.

The London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League officially announced last month their intentions to sport a new — or old, rather — look for the next season. Interestingly, they didn't even bother to post their own news release on their web site, but rather borrow from Ryan Pyette of the London Free Press.

The Knights recently updated their web site to reflect the new symbol, seen here to the left. I'm all for a throwback except for when it goes out of its way to be aesthetically unpleasing. Which I feel like this does.

What I will give them is the new shades of green and gold. Huge improvements over the previous design. That's what you should be seeing on a hockey jersey.

GM Mark Hunter said, "When we took over the team, we didn't know what that Spider-Man Knight thing was. We wanted to go back to the old look, the green-and-white."

I half-agree with him. That logo was always a little off. While I don't know where he got "Spider-Man" from, it never seemed like it was balanced quite right. Despite its lack of clean, sharp design elements, this new logo is actually balanced.

However, I think hundreds of Icethetics readers and fans might disagree. After all, it was just over a year ago that the previous incarnation of the London logo beat out 19 others and was declared the best in the OHL by voters here. And not two months later, deemed to have the overall best logo of the 60 Canadian Hockey League clubs.

I think there could be no better reason to call a rematch. As we move into the summer, I plan to relaunch a feature that allows Icethetics readers to do what they do best: Express your opinion and vote! Logo tournaments will be back with a new format and everything. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

After the Knights unveiled their new logo, shouldn't a jersey have followed? Reebok has infiltrated even the OHL now and has deemed it inappropriate for any team to unveil their new look prior to the giant, soul-crushing corporation's say-so. Or more accurately, "The OHL has a new sweater agreement with Reebok so teams have to wait for the cue in early September." Right.

So we'll wait until then to see it, but in the meantime, the article says to expect something from the early days circa 1968-70. For a better idea of what that means, we visit KnightsHistory.com, an offshoot of the Knight's official web site. See the following image.

I really hope Knights fans are happy with this. I mean it's for you guys anyway. It just seems like taking a giant leap backwards. On one hand, yes, it truly looks like a hockey sweater. But on the other, "Those sharp-looking green third jerseys are done," writes Pyette.

Being a Lightning fan, I don't think I deserve a vote. So let's hear from some Ontarians. (Is that what you're called?) Is the retro look an improvement or did the Knights already have the best logo in all of Canadian junior hockey?

Flyers at Fenway?

Flyers fan Sal wrote to me this afternoon with a slew of good questions.

I was just wondering if you've heard anything about what the Flyers were going to do this season. I've heard different grumblings that the orange retro jersey would become our home sweater and the black jersey would be used for special occasions. Does this mean the Flyers will change their away jersey to match the retro design? Also, since the Winter Classic game at Fenway Park between the Bruins and the Flyers seems to be official, what jerseys do you think the Flyers will wear?

So I sat down to do a little quick research. Looking into the Icethetics archives, I reported back in February that the Flyers would be making the third jersey swap this fall. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The orange retros will be the new standard home uniform while the blacks will take on a secondary role. As far as the road whites, I have no new information at this time that would indicate a redesign to match the throwbacks. If I were to guess, I'd say they will remain the same as last year, at least for now. But hold that thought.

That brings us to the 2010 Winter Classic. We know the Bruins are hosting it at Fenway Park, but that may only be half the story. On June 19, TSN reported that the Calgary Flames would be also be hosting an outdoor New Year's Day game, creating hockey's first open-air double-header.

The Flames' opponent remains a mystery, but that may no longer be the case for the Bruins. It's not official yet, but on Tuesday, Delaware County Daily Times beat writer Anthony J. SanFilippo wrote on his blog that the Flyers would be making the trip to Fenway Park — not the Rangers, as I would've expected.

By the way, I highly recommend a read of SanFilippo's article as he goes into detail regarding the circumstances that led to this. Apparently, the NHL wanted the Capitals so they could promote Ovechkin but NBC was unhappy with the Rangers-Capitals TV ratings during the playoffs.

So this brings up an interesting question. All four teams that have participated in Winter Classics have done so donning classic attire. With the Flyers taking their classic attire full-time this season, how will they manage to make this special occasion stand out?

Unfortunately, while I have no solid answer for you at this point since nothing is official yet anyway, remember that thought I told you to hold on to earlier? This would be the perfect opportunity for the Flyers to introduce a white version of the orange retro sweater. With the Bruins hosting, they will likely be in gold or black. And in case you missed it, I posted a great concept on Twitter, showing a uniform the Bruins could wear. (Great work by Bruins 37.)

While we're on the topic of the Winter Classic, don't forget that the Chicago Blackhawks said that last year's black third jersey will be replaced by their Winter Classic sweater. Those will be fantastic to see on the ice more than once a year. Unfortunately, there are no plans for the Red Wings to do the same.

That reminds me. At some point this week, I'm going to have a post to get everyone up to speed on which teams we're expecting third jerseys from this season. And I'll be accepting concepts for what they might look like. Who's excited?

So we've got some theorizing to do in the comments today. What will the Flyers wear to the Winter Classic? What will the Bruins wear? Who will face the Flames in Part II of WC '10? And will anyone look cooler than the Blackhawks in their third jerseys this year?

Update on Sunday · Jun 28 · 2009 | 2:05 PM PDT by Chris

Looks like I didn't do my homework on one aspect of this post and I apologize for that. Several of you have written in to point out that the TSN article suggesting there would be a second outdoor game at the 2010 Winter Classic hosted by Calgary was not set in stone. A follow-up story this past week pointed out that in fact there will be no Flames-hosted match. At least not on January 1, 2010.

The NHL's competition committee met last week to discuss the topic, saying that there may still be a second special event on New Year's Day in a Canadian city. Perhaps the Habs playing a game at Montreal's Olympic Stadium as part of their 100th anniversary celebration? Maybe against the Flames. Or Leafs?

Once again, I apologize for not being up to speed on this and I appreciate the help from those of you who wrote in to set me straight.

The Orange and Blue

In case you aren't following along on Twitter, I'll summarize yesterday's draft coverage. And if you aren't, you can check out updates in the sidebar.

First, my Bolts nabbed Victor Hedman which I am thrilled about. We have Lecavalier, St. Louis and Stamkos. While it may not seem like it, we have the scoring. What we need is someone to stand in front of Mike Smith the way Dan Boyle and company stood in front of Nik Khabibulin. But I digress in only the second paragraph.

To the No. 1 overall pick, John Tavares, the New York Islanders gave the sharp new third jersey. Being out of the loop for the most part the past few months, I questioned whether this was a signal the Isles would be taking on the retro look full time.

My reliable Icethetics sources, along with several other readers, tell me that while the team would love nothing more for the fall, the total switch won't take place until 2010 or 2011. In the meantime, this season will certainly see a ramp-up in frequency of third jersey action. We're told to expect the alternates in more than a quarter of regular season play.

So while we're talking orange and blue, the Edmonton Journal tells us the Oilers will be donning the retros a whopping 27 times in the coming 2009-10 campaign. This leaves just 14 opportunities for the dark blue sweater effectively making it the alternate this year.

The road white jersey will remain the same. As the Journal writer points out, the Oil performed better in those anyway. My thanks to PuckDrawn for pointing out this info. And allow me to once again point out what a great job Johnny has done in my absence and still continues to do.

And lastly, in case it got overlooked by anyone, I have a bit of AHL news. Well, it's really more of a rumor at this point. But with the Phantoms headed to Adirondack, the Hershey Bears are now one of only two teams left in Pennsylvania. Could they be getting a new look in '09? The fans want it. Does the ownership? I'll be tracking this story for you throughout the summer.

Stay tuned for more news and keep your eye on Twitter for regular briefings.

Now on Twitter!

The obligatory Icethetics Twitter account is now active. Feel free to follow. I intend more frequent updates there than on the blog here at least while news is slow. You can also expect more than a few concept art posts over there. I'll be adding a widget to this site so you'll never even have to leave.

Visit twitter.com/icethetics and never miss a thing!

Update on Friday · Jun 26 · 2009 | 12:32 PM PDT by Chris

Off to the right side of the page you can now find Icethetics' Twitter updates. Handy for those uninterested in getting a Twitter account. Keep an eye on it. I'm updating it all the time, even when I don't have anything new for the blog.